Bright Lines: Culture On the Autistic Spectrum

full name / name of organization:

Jes Battis, Assistant Professor, Department of English

contact email:

jbattis@gmail.com

"Am I on the spectrum?" asks Abed Nadir, a character on the show Community. He then provides an answer: "None of your business." His joke presumes that the audience will understand this reference to the autism spectrum, and Community introduces the topic of Asperger's Syndrome in its pilot episode. Since the publication of Temple Grandin's work on autism in 1986, there has been a textual explosion of work on Asperger's Syndrome and the autism spectrum. Changes to the DSM-V will replace Asperger's Syndrome with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, a broadening that could threaten the culture that aspie/AS-identified people have produced in the form of literature and visual media. This volume would explore representations of autism within popular culture. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:

The autism spectrum on television: Glee, Parenthood, Community, Criminal Minds, and other programs.